By Yonah Lempert Luecken

Special to the Homer Independent Press

From chess nights at bars to adult and child events at the library, an established chess community quietly thrives in Homer. 

Chess enthusiasts meet to play from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays at Alice’s Champagne Palace. Those who want a quieter atmosphere to play in can go to the Homer Pubic Library from 2 to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays. Beginning players ages 5 and older also can play at the library from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. A chess club for kids ages 5 and older meets at the library on Tuesdays from f3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The weekly games at Alice’s started in the spring of 2024.  Homer resident Dale Banks came up with the idea after Anchor Point held a chess tournament as part of its Snow Rondi winter festival. Players at Alice’s range from complete beginners to experienced players such as local machinist Matt Parshall, one of the two highest ranked chess players in Alaska, according to the United States Chess Federation.  A few high schoolers occasionally show up along with their parents, usually with chess skills quite advanced for their ages.

Players meet upstairs at Alice’s, away from the busy activity of the restaurant below, but still able to order food or drinks before or while playing. Fifteen is the most that has shown up for Wednesday chess, though usually it’s between three and six players.  On June 3, one of the first nice days of summer, three chess players and one freelance reporter chose chess games over sunshine.

As to how weekly chess games ended up in a bar/restaurant, John Roedl, one of the regulars at the Wednesday games said, “I like some background noise while I’m playing.” 

Banks added, “I like having food available.”

Players are drawn to the game for different reasons.  Player Tyler Wentz of Homer said, “I hadn’t played for years before these guys started playing up here. We work at the same place, and eventually I decided to start coming.… It’s one of the few games that’s not luck-based. I like that.”

Homer chess games take place in a friendly atmosphere that is more focused on the game itself than on the competition within it.  Games are played and strategies often discussed afterward, with some of the better players helping with post-game analyses and coaching.

When asked what his favorite part of the game is, Matt Parshall said, “the ‘end game,’” meaning the latter part of the game when there are fewer pieces on the board.  When asked why that part, he answered with a smile, “Because that’s when I win.”

Ed Sotelo, a local retired teacher, started a chess club at Homer High School a few decades ago.  Homer resident Andy Haas, whose children were participants in the Homer High Chess Club, recounted that about 10 years ago, a mother with two active kids had come to the library wanting help finding chess games for her children to participate in. The library subsequently started a chess program for youth.

Haas explained that the chess games at the library reignited the school chess program, and chess programs are now in all Homer schools. Anchor Point began a chess program a few years ago, which is run by Anchor Point resident Gabriel Stone. Local volunteer Frank Quinn facilitates the chess group in the Homer library.  

Quinn said, “I like to teach that chess is fun. I don’t play to win.” 

There are local tournaments as well. West Homer Elementary has an annual one, which is open only to students. Anchor Point hosts an all-ages chess tournament each year as part of the Snow Rondi.

Haas is well versed in the history and strategies of chess and described the impact of chess in the schools.

“Chess is demanding. It has rules of behavior and conduct and thinking ahead,” he said. Of the local kids’ abilities, he stated, “The kids are amazing. They are fully engaged.”

Haas described chess as “a platform for teaching math, history [and] geography.” He explained its history, saying that it is an ancient game with origins in India.  Modern chess developed more fully in Persia, where it was named “Shatranj”.  The game ending term “check mate” likely comes from the Persian words “Shah Mat,” which means, “the king is dead.” Game piece names and some of their defined movements changed again as chess became known throughout Europe.

Haas, who has taught chess through the Homer schools programs, likes to introduce the game in terms of music.

“Each piece has a certain timbre. The kids need to learn to make a harmony.  When a piece is captured, there is disarray … suddenly there is a dissonance.” 

He said of the experience, “I’m delighted with how engaged the kids are.” 

Haas said that Sotelo discovered students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder often do extremely well at chess, becoming comfortable with the set routines of established rules.

According to Haas, the schools try to have chess games twice a week, sometimes during school and sometimes as part of after-school programs.  He said that the Homer Foundation, a local nonprofit foundation dedicated to enhancing quality of life in the Homer area, financed the purchasing of chess boards for the students to use and that they would earn chess boards through school attendance and other requirements.

“They are nice boards,” he said.

As for those who might be anxious about playing, Haas said, “I would encourage that both kids and adults should jump in and not be afraid.  If they don’t know how pieces move, that’s fine.  There are a lot of tools for beginning youth that parents should learn.  For instance, they may not have the attention span for an entire game, but an end game could work.”

With games at Alice’s and at the library, anyone interested in local chess just needs to choose which of the chess opportunities to use.  In Homer, as in chess itself, there are multiple ways to engage with the game.